IIM-L ucknow Interview Experience

IIM Lucknow was my 1st and only shortlist I had till now.
Venue: Hotel Monarch, Bangalore
Time: 2PM

All the group members were called into the Hall in the ascending order of their Test Registration Numbers
Essay/GD Topic: Rules are meant to be broken.
Essay Writing - 20 mins.
Immediately the Sheets were collected by the panelists. And we were asked to start the Group Discussion.

My Opinion on GD:
It was a real fish market. I have never been part of such a weird group till now. The group behavior was so bad that even the one Panelists scolded the group. At any given point of time, we could find at least 3-4 people trying to make their point. The topic is so generic that no one went out of ideas. Everyone was trying to bring in their own ideas. No one ever thought of carrying forward the ideas made by others. No one took the leadership to control the group and guide it in a right direction. A couple of times, i felt that I should control the group. But i was afraid to take the risk/responsibility. At the end of GD, i realized that at times HIGH RISKS YIELD HIGH RETURNS and it's worth taking those risks :) (Wish i had realized it on time)

I was the 9th guy to go in for the interview ( last but one)
Time was around 5
There were 2 panelists Conducting the Personal Interviews (PI). I walked into the room and said "Good Evening" to the Panelists.
P1- An Old man (around 55s)
P2- Middle Aged (around low 40s)


P1: Why did you take a 2 year back between +2 and Engg
Me: 1-year long term coaching for IIT and another year for my Preparatory Course at IIT Madras

P1: What is a Preparatory Course
Me: Explained the funda behind Prep Course

P2: An idea why people are called Scheduled Caste and Tribes?
Me: No idea (with a loser's smile)

P1: Sterling Commerce India, What's your Job Profile like?
Me: Sir, its a Software firm.

P1: Since all engineering graduates are landing up into software, why do we still have branches Chemical, Civil engineering? Do you think we can scrap all these and have one common Computer Science Engineering branch?
Me: No sir, India is a developing nation and the opportunities are growing.

P1: Name some chemical engineering firms in India
Me: BHEL (Dr. Reddy's Labs and BioCon came to my mind first. I wanted to divert them from Chemical Engineering).

P1: You mean BHEL is a core Chemical Engineering related firm
Me: No sir, but there are Chemical Engineering related concepts being employed over there. If we consider BHEL Tirchy, it's specialization is on Boilers and Heat Transfer. Though Heat Transfer is common to Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, the Corrosion effect and Pressure related concepts are from Chemical Engineering background.

P1: So how do you classify BHEL? (Mechanical/Chemical)
Me: Its a mix of both.

P2: So you are from Chemical Engineering. Can i ask you some Questions related to Chemistry
Me: Yes Sir ( do I really have a choice there)

P2: Is sulphate an Cation or Anion?
Me: Cation

P2: What is an Cation?
Me: Cation releases Electrons. Anion takes electrons. And I'm sorry Sulphate is an Anion

P2: What about Nitrate?
Me: Anion

P1: How many elements are there in Mendeleev's Periodic table?
Me: 104 ( i knew it was wrong. But i was confident that even they wouldn't know the correct number. Luckily, they didn't stress on it :) ). Basic difference between Mendeleev's and Modern Periodic table is that the earlier didn't have a column for Noble/Inert gases.

P1: What are Inert gases and why are they called Inert gases?
Me: Inert gas elements are those elements which have their outer most layer electrons complete/full. So they are not capable either losing or gaining electrons.

P2: What is IUPAC? Have you heard of it anywhere I-U-P-A-C?
Me: Sir, i know its related to Chemical Engineering. But i exactly don't remember it.

P1: Who is the Dy. PM of India?
Me: Sir, there's no Dy. PM

P1: Sure?
Me: Yes sir.

P1: So we never had a Dy. PM?
Me: Mr. L K Advani was the Dy. PM, under A B Vajpayee's regime

P1: What is Sonia Gandhi then?
Me: She is the President of Congress party. And head of UPA.

P1: What is she in parliament?
Me: I think she's just an MP sir.

P1: Anything else?
Me: No sir ( I didn't remember that she's also the chairperson of the National Advisory Committee).

P1: Who is the Chairman of Planning Commission?
Me: Mr. Man Mohan Singh, Our Prime Minister

P1: Who is the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission?
Me: I think it's Montek Singh Ahulwalia, but I'm not sure of his post ( whether he's the Dy. Chairman or not).

P1 and P2: I think we are done and you may leave.

I said THANK YOU SIR and came out. I think they took around 12 mins. I feel it was an OK interview. Basically it went very smoothly. The panelists were really nice. Though i fumbled couple of times, they didn't try to put me under pressure. It was a smooth sailing for me.

That's the end of my dream run. And the results will be out on 10th April.... Exactly 2 weeks from now.
Hope everything goes according to my LUCK-NOW

Straight Hair Nanduri

I always had a fascination for long and straight hair. Throughout my school days, my friends used to make fun of my hair. They have also coined a special word for it, Bird's Nest (pichukula goodu). In 2005, after growing my hair for 4 months, i went to a hair saloon and asked the barber, whether he can straighten it. He made me sit in a chair and seriously started chopping it off. When i asked him, what's he doing with my hair? He sincerely said, "Only thing that i could be do with this hair is.... to cut it short". And for this process, he charged me 5 times more than what i regularly used to pay. To add to my hair woes, the rate of my hair fall has suddenly

But last summer I've decided, let whatever happen I'm gonna straighten my hair by end of 2008. And luckily my friend has moved to Delhi. So there's really no one out here at my place to screw me for my weird experiments on my hair. Finally on 27th December 2008, i finally decided to get my hair straightened. Looking at my desperation for straight hair, the barber made few preliminary tests and finally promoted me to the next level and made me sit in a chair. And this time before the barber could start his job, i made sure that he's not going to cut my hair at any cost.

The process has started off at 11.30AM. First he washed my hair, then applied some white colored paste and allowed it to dry. Later he again washed my hair and then started the hair straightening process. After that he applied a conditioner to my hair and washed it once again. Then he again applied a couple of creams to my hair and again washed my hair. And when the clocked 3 PM, he grandly announced that my hair is straightened now.

The process of hair straightening has finally got over. But the real troubles started immediately after that. He prescribed me to use only L'oreal Products (shampoo and Conditioners). And after a couple of days, he adviced me to use a hair Serum, so that my hair doesn't get dried out.
Though it's looking funny and different, it's really a great feeling.

Definitely there would be another blog on the same topic, in which i would be expressing people's comment and reactions on my new hairdo.

As the "Middle Order" crumbles, the Tailender comes in to bat

Today (November 8th 2008) is a very special day. The occasion being my Elder brother's marriage. Dad has been busy for last 40 days distributing the Wedding Invitations to all his friends and colleagues across the 23 districts of AP. Above all this, he's been monitoring few other arrangements related to Function Hall, Food Menu, Accommodation for guests and Transportation Facilities.

We got up at 6 AM and are ready by 7.15AM to leave from home (to the Function Hall). The same thing happened around 22 months ago when my Eldest brother got married (in Jan 2007). From my perspective, few variables (function hall, caterer, wedding car etc..) remained constant in both the marriages. We reached the function hall by 8 AM.

I was the only jobless guy in the function hall accompanying my brother. Everyone else is busy, either receiving guests or arranging things. The Groom was invited on to the dais first and the priest started marriage rituals. Later the Bride was also invited. Meanwhile Dad was busy inviting the guests, that he couldn't even come down to bless the married couple at the mentioned Muhurtham time. And once the marriage rituals got over, all the guests were invited to come and bless the newly married couple.

Later the guests were routed towards the food counters, to avoid the crowdedness at the dais.
Separate stalls were arranged to split the crowd evenly. There was a huge list of items on the menu. I would definitely wonder if anyone had managed to cover all the varieties of food that was served. In the midst of all this, the bride and the groom were busy with wishes, gifts, photos.

Finally, few of my friends finally landed up at the venue. And now its my turn to get busy.In between, i was called up to the dais to ensure that i don't miss out from any of the important photo frames. And the final call came from my Eldest brother, asking me to join them at lunch. Of course, i was the last to land up at the dining table. But believe me the food was really delicious. esp the fish fry and the mutton curry.

Now that everyone has refueled themselves, the photographer has called for the final photo session. And finally the marriage function ended at 4 PM. All of us returned home exhausted. And the day ended on a very happy note.

But the sad part is, after a solid start my the Family opener (my Eldest brother) for our Bachelors XI team, the middle order (my cousin and elder brother) has crumbled under pressure from the selection committee (Parents). The Tailender of the team (myself) is yet to arrive at the crease. And there's enormous amount of pressure on the tail to make sure that the team doesn't get all out in at least coming 2-3 years.

Missing Train

I've already mentioned in my intro blog that I'm very lazy at doing things. Moreover i hate doing the same thing again and again. And that's the reason for my temporary hibernation. The reason for blogging today is to take out all my frustration on myself.

I've planned to leave to my home-town today. The reason being my Elder brother's (Mr. K) engagement on August 3rd 2008. Unlike my usual nature, I've planned and booked my train tickets well in advance. And everything was pretty fine till lunch. At 4 pm, I realized that i need to wind up my work fast and catch the train on time. And at this moment, i felt very proud of my presence of mind. But i never knew that i was going to commit such a silly mistake that would cost me thousands of bucks and sheer frustration for few hours.

I took a print out of my to and fro journey tickets and kept looking at the train departure time. It was stamped as 6.50pm. I have a vague habit of estimating the journey time and have a buffer of 10 mins over that. So i started off from mu office at 6pm and reached the railway station at 6.30pm. Once again i was excited at my calculations and was walking like a happy-go-lucky guy.

To my surprise, the platform was totally empty. Then for a moment, i realized that something is really wrong and i took out the copy of my e-ticket to check the departure time of the train. To my bizarre, i never bothered to see the Source and Destination that's stamped on the ticket in my hands. Then i realised that I was holding my return journey ticket. Immediately, i started running towards the auto-stand to catch the train from Cantonment. But as expected the train left well before i could reach the there.

For a moment, i started scolding myself for such a silly mistake. How could i miss such a basic thing. I started calling up all my friends and looking for all possible alternatives. And finally i decided to board a flight from BIAL at 10pm. Adding to my tensions, the website was down my friend couldn't book tickets for me. Luckily, i manged to book my flight tickets over phone (tele-booking). And I immediately started my journey towards the newly constructed Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), which costed me another 250 bucks.

This time i managed to reach the Airport 30 minutes before the scheduled time. Finally that's the end of all my goof ups for the day. Everyone was fast asleep by the time i reached home. I called up my brother (K) to open the door. To his surprise, I reached home 4 hours ahead of the scheduled time (train).

A Disastrous Sunday

Yesterday (6th july 2008) happened to be the most disastrous Sunday in recent times that I could remember. I've been waiting for this Super Sunday for past few weeks. What made it special was

• India playing Srilanka in the Asia Cup final
• Federer clashing with Nadal in Wimbledon final

The Cricket match started on a positive note. An outstanding opening spell from Ishant Sharma, has kept Srilankan's on back foot (66/4 in 12 Overs). But this didn't last long as the danger man Sanath Jayasuriya was still waiting for his turn to go at the Indian bowlers. During the 2nd and 3rd Power plays, the Indian bowlers were hit for runs in all possible directions and dimensions. And the unlucky bowler of the lot was RP Singh (6,6,4,4,0,6). The ball raced off to the boundary at the speed of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren at the British Grand Prix. In 35 overs, the Srilankan's raced off to 196 for the loss of 4 wickets. And all i could think of, was the final in Sharjah in 2000-01. But a flighted delivery from Shewag in the 36th over did it in for India. And Srilankan's were bowled out for 273.

Looking at the batting performances of the Indian team through out the tour and an additional batsmen to the playing 11 (7 bowlers + 4 batsmen) made me feel very optimistic. Shewag's counter attack on the Lankan bowlers was mind-blowing. It was a feast to watch Shewag's attacking shots, on a Sunday. But this happiness didn't last long. In came Ajantha Mendis, who wrecked the formidable Indian batting line up in no time. The Indians collapsed to 173 in 40 Overs. And it was another pitiable performance by Indians in the final.

I was very dis-heartened to see Indians lose this way. This hasn't come as a Sunday's Super Shocker to me, as the Indian team crumbled in a very well-known manner. The day hasn't come to an end yet. :-(

Friendship Day Celebrations

It was around 10 am on Aug 1st 1999. I was then preparing for my JEE at Special Coaching Center in Hyderabad. I finished my weekend exam and just came out of the college building. Everyone was conveying Friendship Day wishes to each other. It being Sunday, me and my friend (Mr.P) thought of celebrating it at Tipsy-Topsy.

The bakery was too crowded and we somehow managed to get a table immediately, by RGing few people around. The menu looked like some Greek and Latin to me. And we finally decided to order burgers along with some coke. The order was served at my table in no time. Looking at it, there was a big question mark on our faces. How should we go at it? We looked around for a couple of minutes for some hints. But we were clueless.

Finally, we decided to use our JEE skills and came up with a brilliant idea. We started eating it like a Dosa and I don't know how many of them around have enjoyed looking at us. But I'm pretty sure that this is my best effort at eating a Burger. And even today, I still feel proud of my technical brilliance.

The journey begins now....

Hi,
I would like to dedicate my 1st blog to my beloved family members. I guess even they would be surprised to see me blogging. But yes, I'm doing it. Till now, I haven't given a serious thought of why should I blog and what I'm going to scribble down over here. As of now the agenda is not clear. But few reasons for taking this drastic step could be

• To know myself better and try to identify myself in this imaginary world
• To avoid my sluggishness and keep myself awake
• To show my weird thoughts to this world

Since i would like to dedicate this to my family, lemme introduce my family members:

1. My Papa is working as Engineer-in-Chief (R&B). He is a very hard working, sincere and strong man. And I am his favourite kid at home.
2. My Amma is a house-wife. She is very soft, mild by nature. All she knows is to love her family. Believe me, she doesn't even know how to lie.
3. My Eldest Brother is working as a S/W consultant. He is very intelligent and hard-working. Go to him with any problem, he has a got a ready solution to it.
4. My Elder Brother is also a S/W consultant. The creative genius and artist of my Clan, loves to live in his own world. And, he is really good at Sports.

And the last, but not the least is the most pampered, laziest, jobless, careless bugger of the family. Yes it's me (Suneel). Till now, there are no tags that could be associated along with me and my name. But if you are expecting something in future, then i can't promise it. But for me, i would let the time decide it.

To conclude, this is in brief about my wonderful family.

There are more Shocks and Surprises that will be posted under this label "Family". Keep guessing [:)]

Ah.... finally i come to the end of my 1st blog.... Huh hah.... Huh hah....